Register resetting mechanism



July 13, 1943. W, Q PETERS v 2,324,321

REGISTER RESETTING MECHANISM fai@ T 1N VENT OR.

William (rPeteaS July 13, 1943.

w. G. PETERS REGISTER RESET'.\'.ING4 MECHANISM Filed May 24, 1941 2Sheets-Sheet 2 M Pw, M ./m M WX Patented July 13, 1943 REGISTERRESETTING MECHANISM William G. Peters, Chicago, Ill., assigner toEichard Groetchen, doing business as Groetchen Tool & Mfg. Co., Chicago,Ill.

Application May 24, 1941, Serial No. 395,066

6 Claims.

This invention relates to step-up mechanism and more particularly toregistering devices for counting and totalizing a score or the likedetermined by some initial operation of a device with which thismechanism is adapted to be associated.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a compact unitstep-up mechanism which will be simple in construction, economical inmanufacture, and highly efficient in use.

It is another object of this invention to provide in step-up mechanismmeans for accomplishing a positive advancement of a registering meansfor each operation effected by the device with which this mechanism isassociated.

Another object of this invention is the provision in step-up mechanismof a unidirectional advancing shaft having a resetting spring associatedtherewith for returning the shaft to an initial position.

A further object of this invention is to provide in unidirectionalstepping shafts of the type employed in registering mechanism, aself-adjusting spring tensioner for returning the shaft to an initialposition upon each resetting thereof.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide in step-upmechanism having means for latching the stepped units in advancedposition, a positive resetting mechanism which when caused to operatewill assume and remain in resetting condition until the next advancingoperation is effected.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear morefully as the device is described in the specification and in conjunctionwith the annexed drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of the step-up mechanism;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view, opposite to that seen in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of a portion of the step-up mechanism as seenfrom line 4 4 in Fig. 2 and showing portions thereof partly inelevation;

Fig. 5 is a sectional detail View, complementary to that seen in Fig. 4,and looking in the direction of line 5 5 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional detail view taken along line 6 6 ofFig. 1.

The present disclosure is adapted for use as a scoring mechanism and assuch is adapted to be employed in game apparatus or the like. Referringto Fig. 1, I indicates my new step-up unit which comprises a mountingplate I I having boss formations I2 and I2tL stamped in the plate Il toprovide a mounting for a pair of shafts I3 and I3t, there beingadditional bearing provided, by the stamped boss formations I4 and l4t,in a bracket I5 which has oiset flange portions IB attached to the mainplate by welding or the like.

The shafts I3 and I3t each have one end portion I' thereof keyed to adisc I8 and I8 respectively, and each disc iB IBt has fixed thereto ahub structure I9 and I9z respectively which in turn is fastened to aratchet 20 so that the shaft I3 and the disc, hub and ratchet I8, I9 and20, respectively, will rotate as a unit about the axis of the shaft I3while the disc, hub and ratchet I8t, I9t and 281i respectively willcomprise a unit rotatable on the axis of shaft I3t.

Each of the rotatable units associated with the shafts I3 and I3t isadapted to assume a normal or Zero position through the medium of a coilspring 2l and 2If respectively having one end thereof anchored as at 22to a friction disc 23 and 23t respectively, later to be described, andthe opposite end attached to a cotter pin 24 carried by the shaft I3 sothat the shaft I3 will be urged toward an initial position. The hubstructure I9 I9t of each of the rotatable units has formed therein anotch 25 25t respectively, and as seen in Fig. 5 there is a pair of stoppawls 26 and 261i respectively each of which pawls has pivot mounting asat 21 and 2`If respectively on the main plate II, the pivot mountingsbeing spaced laterally with respect to each other. Each of the pawls 26and 26t has an offset arm to which is attached a coil spring 28 tonormally urge the pawl members 2B 26t in a direction toward the hubstructure so that the latter and the respective shaft thereof will beprevented from rotating by action of the return spring 2I 2It when thepawl ZI-Zf is engaged in the notch 25-25t respectively.

For the purpose of convenience, the several rotatable units should beidentified one from the other, and for this purpose the first of therotatable units may be called a register for units and the other aregister for tens; when referring specifically to the parts in the tensregister which are common to both registers the exponent t is used withthe reference numeral for such part. The means for advancing the unitsregister consists of a step-up solenoid 29 having a movable core orarmature Sii which is connected as at 3i to a sliding bar 32, whichsliding bar is guided for sliding movement on a pair of projecting lugs33 struck up from the main plate I I.

The bar has pivotally mounted thereon, as at 35i, an advancing pawl 35iadapted to assume normal position (as shown l) by spring means Silhaving one end anchored on the main plate il as at 3l' and its oppositenel connected as at 3S to an offset on the pawl 35 to urge the lattertoward the right and in a clockwise direction. ".Che pawl S5 carries atone end thereof a laterally projecting pin 3S which is adapted toproject through a guide slot 5 formed in the plate ll.

The solenoid 2Q may be associated with any suitable circuit breakerwhich, when disposed in circuit-completing condition, will serve toenergize the solenoid 2Q whereby the latter will attract its armature 33and the bar 32 connected thereto to the left seen in Fig, l, against theaction of the spring 3d. TJpon such movement of the slide bar 32, thepawl 35 will eect an advancement of the ratchet on the units register.This is best illustrated in Fig. 5, wherein it will be noted that thelaterally extending pin 3S on the pawll 35 will be urged up into thefirst tooth formation on the ratchet 2l) and will cause a rotation ofthe ratchet and shaft i3 a circumferential step equal to the distancebetween two teeth as limited by the guide formation it next succeedingtooth to bear against the locked projecting pin.V It is therefore seenthat there will be but one single step without any override, upon eachenergization of the solenoid VEach or the register units has associatedtherewith a latching pawl, the pawl il for the units register and. pawllit for the tens register, each of which latching pawls has a separatepivotal mounting as at i2 and itt respectively on the main plate il, onthe side thereof opposite to that on which the ratchets 2Q and' Eilt aredisposed. Each pawl l-llt has a laterally extending pin i3-i325 resi,ctively adapted to .extend through an arcuate slot formation lidirespectively in the main plate i i, so that the pin i3 will latchinglyengage in one of the tooth formations on its respective ratchet Whilethe pin est will engage one tooth on the ratchet lt. Each of thelatching pawls iilit has its respective pin member t-dilt urged intolatching engagement with its respective ratchet EQ-t by spring meansfi". it is to be noted that the pivotal inountings l2- tt oftherespective latching pawls are spaced horizontally with respect to eachother such that the spring means elli may be arranged between the twolatching p-awls i--lt with its respective end portions fixed tolaterally extending hook formations on the respective latching pawls.

The disc i8 forming a part of the units register has pivotally arrangedas at 43's on its inner face, a radially extending linger di?. Thisfinger d8 has associated therewith a bail spring i9 having one endthereof anchored as at E@ on the disc iiiand its opposite end hookedonto a yoke formation in the linger Elli, to urge the lattercounterclockwise about its pivot mounting lil, as seen in Fig. 4.

This counterclockwise movement of the nger t3 is limited by the abut-Ament of the portion on the linger d8 with the stud formation 53 carriedby the disc i8, the arrangement being such that the finger e8 be pivotedto a position Within the peripheral edge of the disc l against theaction of the spring d and will normally assume the position sho-wn inFig. Il, by action of the spring iii). iiter a predetermined number ofsteps on the ratchet i@ oi the units register in the manner heretoforedescribed, the disc lil associated therewith will rotate into a positionWhere the finger i8 will come into engagement with a laterally extendingstud lill carried by the disc itt on the tens register.

In the present instance it will require nine successivesteps of theunits ratchet 2t, through the medium of the solenoid 29, to position thefinger d8' in readiness to engage the projecting stud Eil as aioresaid,and upon the tenth circumferential step of the units ratchet, the tensregister will be caused to' step one circumferential step equal to thedistance between' two teeth on its ratchet by reason of' the" linger 138urging the tens disc itt in a counter'- clockwise direction as seen inFig. fi. The foregoing step of the tens register will advance the latterone step, and its latching pawl dit will hold the ratchet Ztltassociated therewith in ad'- vanced position in exactly the samernanneras explained in connection with the units register.

It will be noted in Fig. fi that the swing of the linger i8 about theaxis of the shaft i3 hasa' considerable amount of leverage upon therotative action of the tens registering disc ISt, and that by virtue ofthe short and snap-like action of the armature 3) and bar 3i! associatedwith the solenoid 29 it is possible that a considerable' amount ofmomentum be created in the tens disc l8t. To this end there is providedan escapement device which prevents any override of the tens disc l8r.This disc associated with the tens register is provided with a pluralityof laterally extending stud formations 5d spaced" equally with respectto each other and radially with respect to the shaft iit, the number cI"studs 54 corresponding to the number of teeth in the ratchet Zt withwhich they are associated.

The escapement device is indicated at 55 andl consists of a pivotallymounted segment t5. lThis escapement device is normally disposed in the'position shown, by spring means anchored as at 58 to the main plate il.There is a camming projection 'formed on the escapement 55, and thiscamming projection is normally disposed in the path of movement of oneof the lug elements 54 on the tens disc l8r, so that when the latter isstepped one step in the manner heretofore described, the escapement 5F;will be urged into the dotted line position (Fig. e) withl the segmentalportion thereof disposed" in abutting relationship with respect to thenext successive lug 513 to prevent more than one step of the tens discforeachV operation caused by the nment 5t will be released and theescapement 55 will be returned to normal position by its spring' ItVwill be noted that from Figs. 2 and 3 that the d iscs lil-,lst areadapted to carry indicia and f that thesetwo discs are arranged verynearlyV tangentially with respect to each other. It is further to benoted that the two discs may be arranged with respect to a sight openingillustrated as at 60, so that the respective indicia of the two discs|8-I8t may be legible through the sight opening 6E). It is thereforeseen that the step-up mechanism may be employed to visibly register atotal commensurate with the number of steps made upon the device.

It is further pointed out that each of the shafts |3-I3t is splined asat 6| and that these splined shafts are adapted to carry some mechanismto be acted upon, such for instance as a commutator which may beadvanced in steps with the shaft I3 and shaft |3t to close a switchcorresponding in number to the number of steps made by the step-up unit,each of which switches in turn may be adapted to close circuit to someelectrically operated score-recording panel or the like. The splining ion the shaft ISt forming a part of the tens register, may be employedwith a high score register such that upon attaining a maximum score aparticular switch may be closed, or such that a particular lever may betripped. It is to this end that the splining is of importance, becausethe particular arm or lever or commutator wiper may at the option of theuser be placed in 9, predetermined position, such that upon theattainment of a predetermined score, say, for instance 50,000 (when thenumber 5 on the tens register aligns with the sight opening fifi), someparticular means will be actuated to ring a bell or otherwise announcethat such high score has been attained. If the device with which thisstep-up mechanism is employed is such that a high sco-re may be attainedwith greater ease, then it may be desirable to set the lever or switchon the splined end of the shaft at a different position, such that itwould require a higher score to be attained before the particularoperation desired would be effected.

When it is desired to reset the ratchets and discs to an initialposition, any desirable circuitclosing means may be operated to energizethe reset solenoid 'f to attract its armature ll. This armature 'Il isassociated with a slide bar 12 which is slidably arranged in the guideslots I3 formed in latera1 projections 'i4 struck up from the main plateIl. Each of the latching pawls 4|-4lt is provided with a laterallyexten-ding lip 'I5-Wt respectively adapted to be disposed in a recess'IB--t respectively and each formed in a respective edge of the slidebar 'l2 adjacent the particularly extending lip with which it isassociated. Each of the recesses 'I6- l Gt is provided with a camformation 'Il-Tit respectively which is adapted to engage the lip'l5-Lit with which each is associated when the slide bar I2 is attractedto the left with the armature '|I of the reset solenoid lll, such thatthe latching pawls lll-Mt will be pivoted against the action of thespring d5 into a position where the laterally extending pins (i3-3fdisengage connection with their respective ratchet Z-Zilt, whereupon theshafts |3|3t of each of the registering units are free to rotate byaction of the coil springs 2i2|t in retrograde action until the notchformations -Zt in the hubs |9-l9t are engaged by their respective stoppawls 26-28t. It will be noted that regardless of the number ofrevolutions made by the shafts |3|3t, when they are released forretrograde movement they make less than a full revolution in return;that is to say, if either the units counter or the tens counter hasstepped beyond the tenth position, for instance, twelve steps, 7.5

immediately upon release of the latching pawls 4|-4It the unit willreturn to initial position, which would amount to a circumferentialdistance between two teeth on the respective ratchet 2--2Ut- In thisscore registeringdevice there is provided a novel return means for thevarious discs. Each return means is identical in structure andoperation, hence only that of the units counter will be explained in sofar as is necessary to understand the same. This return means consistsof the coil spring 2| which normally tends to return the shaft I3 towardits initial position. As heretofore explained, the coil spring 2| hasone end attached to a cotter pin 24 carried by the shaft i3 and itsopposite end anchored as at 22 to the fiber disc 23. This disc 23 floatsfreely on the shaft i3 and bears against a similar disc 62 (there beinga like disc 621 on the tens shaft itt) which disc 62 preferably may beof cork or leather and likewise floats upon the shaft i3. The floatinganchor for the coil spring 2| and the coil spring 2li is engaged by atensioner Et which consists of a metal plate 64 having concaveformations 65--i35t at its ends to provide a pair of bearing fingersE8-5t cach of which is adapte-d to engage the disc 23-23t in the regionof the peripheral edge thereof. In the present arrangement the tensionerE3 is adapted to affect the floating anchor of each of the registeringshafts |3-|3t and is arranged on a pair of stud screws 6l each of whichis provided with a compression spring ESS. The screw 6l is adapted topass through an opening 63 in the member fifi and to threadably engagethe bracket l5, the compression spring BS being disposed between thehead of the screw l and the plate 6d.

The bearing pressure of the tensioner 63 against the floating anchors12S-232i is determined by the adjustment of the screws 6l and may beincreased by an increase in pressure on the sprinfr E38, or decreased byan unthreading of the screw 6l. The arrangement is such that vthefloating anchor will normally be held by the tensioner in fixed relationso as not to rotate with the shaft i3 until the tension on the spring 2|overcomes the frictional engagement of the linger EG on the disc 23. Inthe present instance this rotation of the floating anchor will not occuruntil preferably a little more than one full revolution of the shaft I3.After the shaft i3 has rotated slightly beyond a full revolution, thecoil spring El will be fully tensioned and thereafter the Boating anchor23 will overcome the tension force of the fingers 6G, so that the disc23 will rotate with the shaft i3. rI'he disc 62 provides a relativelyresilient seat for the floating anchor 23 and makes for a more emcientfrictional hold on the member 23 when the spring 2| is run down. The bredisc 23 would slip too easily on the metal bracket i5, therefore thedisc 62 is employed.

By this arrangement there is provided an automatically adjustable returnspring. in conjunction with the units register it will be noted thatafter the tenth step, the return spring 2| will be fully tensioned andthereafter the anchoring disc 23 will rotate with the shaft |3 so thatif the ratchet is stepped up beyond the tenth point, say to the number 5(which would be the fifteenth step), and the reset slide bar 'I2 weremoved to the left, Fig. l, to cam the latching pawl lil out ofengagement with the ratchet 26, the units register would rotate inretrograde movement by the action of the spring 2| until the notch 25 onthe hub i9 came into abutment with the stop pawl 2e', which wouldI be areturn of only five steps instead of the full. iifteen steps that it wasoriginally advanced.

It is therefore seen that by this floating anchor for the resettingspring, there is provided a step-up ratchet disc and shaft which isunidirectionalV for any number of successive steps that'inl returningthe step-up to initial positionl, it isnot necessary that the ratchetreturn a number of steps correspondingV to the number of advanced stepsbut that it will assume the rst initial position in less than a fullrevolution of the' sha-ft i3.

The resetting unit of this device is of such a nature as to provide apositive resetting of the several registering units, and this is broughtabout by reason of the fact that the slide bar i2 oats freely on itsguideways i3. There' being no return spring associated with theresetting solenoid it, it is obvious that when the armature il'attracted to the left, Fig, l, the slide bar 'i2 will likewise move tothe left to cam the two iatching pawls eti out ci latching engagementwith respect to the ratchets on the registering units. There being noresetting spring for the armature ii and slide bar l2, they will remainin resetting position after once being caused to assume that position.There is provided a means for returning the resetting bar i2 an-darmature 'Si to a normal, ineffective position; and this means comprisesa rocking lever 7B pivotally arranged as at lg on a stud formation Seicarried by the mounting plate li. This rocking lever i8 is arranged sothat its free end portions will extend to a point adjacent the two slidebars 32 and l2, there being a laterally projecting pin 82 on each of theslide bars 32 and i2, which 32 is adapted to engage the free end Si ofthe rocking lever i3.

As seen in Fig. 1, the rocking lever 'i8 is in normal position, and itwill be noted that when the reset solenoid and slide bar 'l2 areattracted to the extreme left, the pin 82 on the slide bar 12 will rockthe lever i8 anticlockwise into dotted lineposition. The several partswill remain in this condition until the step-up solenoid is energized,whereupon the solenoid 3f! and slide bar 32 will be attracted to theleft and the pin 82 on the slide bar 32 will engage the lower free endof the rocking lever to rock the latter clockwise and at the same timeto cause the upper free end El of the lever 'i8 to bear against the pin82 on the slide bar l2, thereby to urge the latter and the solenoidarmature 'll to the right, Fig. 1, in which position the lip l-Lit ofeach of the latching pawls lll-iii will again seat in their respectiverecesses 'i6-it on the slide bar 12, so that the latching pins li3--43tmay again assume latching relationship with regard to their respectiveratchet means Zii-Zit.

The solenoids employed to operate either the advancing or resettingmechanism are each mounted on the plate il by means of screws 83, therebeing elongated slots 84 in the plate Il, through which each of thescrews passes, and these slots 85S have their long axis disposedparallel with respect to the slidable movement of the slide bars 32 andl2. By this arrangement the several solenoid units may be adjusted withrespect to the mounting plate into a position where their operation willaffect the slide bars with the greatest efficiency.

Having thus described the structural features of my new step-upmechanism, it is pointed out that this entire unit is of a relativelycompact nature andv is capable of a multitude of uses. The entiremechanism is mounted as a unit within whatever apparatus it is to beemployed with, by mounting the plate ll on any Wellknown type of studmounting at the openings S5 formedV in the plate Il. As heretofore eX-plained the several shafts l3-l3t are adapted to have their splined ends6i connected to any mechanism desired to be actuated thereby, and tothis end there may be provided a suitable mounting extending from thebracket l5 wherein there may be provided mounting openings as at 86 tosupport the structure to be associated withv this step-up mechanism.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my inventionl into eiect, this is capable ofvariation and modiiication without departing from the spirit of theinvention. I, therefore, do not wishi to be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of suchvariations and modications as come within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

1. In a step-up mechanism comprising a base. plate, a rotatable unitmounted on the plate and including a disc having equally spaced detentsvin the region of its circumferential edge, stop means adapted to limitrotative movement of said unit in one direction, means for advancingsaid unit in steps in an opposite direction, latch means engageable withsaid unit to latch the same in advanced position, the combination of anadjustable return means for said unit and including a coil spring and afloating anchor for the same, means for tensioning said anchor in arelatively stationary position with respect to said unit, said springarranged with its free end attached to said unit and adapted to betensioned by the stepping action of the unit, said floating anchor beingarranged to move when the tensile strength of said spring is greaterthan the action of the tensioning means, and escapement means pivotallyarranged on said plate in the region of said equally spaced pins on saiddisc, spring means arranged to dispose the escapement in an initialposition with a portion thereof in the path of movement of said detentmeans, and a segmental section of said escapement adapted to assume ablocking position in the path of move-- ment of said detents when one ofthe latter engages the aforementioned portion of the escapement.

2. ln a step-up mechanism comprising a base, a rotatable unit mounted onsaid base, means for advancing said unit in one direction, means forreturning the same in an opposite direction, means for latching saidunit in advanced position, the combination with said mechanism of aresetting device, said device including a slidable bar arranged forreciprocable movement on said base, cam means on said bar, a lipprojecting from said latching means and engaging said bar adjacent thecam means and adapted to be acted upon by the latter when the bar ismoved into resetting position to move said latohing means out oflatching engagement with respect to said unit, and means for effectingmovement of said bar into resetting position aforesaid.

3. In a step-up mechanism comprising a base, a rotatable unit mounted onsaid base, means for advancing said unit in one direction, means forreturning the same in an opposite direction, means for latching saidunit in advanced position, the combination with said mechanism of aresetting device, said device including a slidable bar arranged forreciprocable movement on said base, cam means on said bar, a lipprojecting from said latching means and engaging said bar adjacent thecam means and adapted to be acted upon by the latter when the bar ismoved into resetting position to move said latching means out oflatching engagement with respect to said unit, means for effectingmovement of said bar into resetting position aforesaid, and lever meanspivotally mounted on the base between said bar and the advancing meansand having one end engageable by said bar when the latter is moved intoresetting position, said lever having its opposite end disposed in aposition to be affected by said advancing means whereby to return saidbar to latching position when said advancing means is operated.

4. In a step-up mechanism a base, a plurality of rotatable unitslineally mounted on the base, advancing means for said units, means forlatching the units in advanced position, the provision of a resettingdevice including the combination of a resetting bar arranged on saidbase for reciprocable movement in a direction parallel to the linealarrangement of said rotatable units, a plurality of cam means on saidresetting bar, means projecting from said latching means of each of saidunits and engaging said bar in the path of movement of acorresponding-one of said cam means, a resetting solenoid connected tosaid resetting bar and adapted to move the latter from a normal positioninto a position with the cam engaging said projection on each of thelatching means whereby to release said units for retrograde movement.

5. In a step-up mechanism a base, a rotatable unit mounted on the base,`advancing means for said unit, said advancing means comprising a slidebar arranged on said base for reciprocating movement, magnetic meansconnected to said bar and adapted to urge the same in one direction,pawl means on the bar and adapted to engage said unit to advance thesame, spring means adapted to urge said slide bar for retrogrademovement in an opposite direction, means for latching the unit inadvanced position, the provision of a resetting device including thecombination of a resetting bar arranged on said base for reciprocablemovement in a direction parallel to said slide bar, cam means on saidresetting bar, means projecting from said latching means and engagingsaid resetting bar in the path of movement of said cam means, aresetting solenoid connected to said resetting bar and adapted to movethe latter from a normal position into a position with the cam engagingsaid projection on the latching means whereby to release said unit forretrograde movement, and lever means mounted on the base between saidslide bar 'and resetting means and having one end engageable by saidresetting bar when it moves as aforesaid, said lever having its oppositeend in the path of movement of said slide bar and adapted to be engagedby the latter during its advancing movement and thereby effect a returnof the resetting bar into normal position.

6. In a unidirectional stepping mechanism including a rotatable shaftand means for rotating the same in one direction, a releasable latchmeans for holding the shaft in advanced position, a spring means havingone end connected to said shaft for rotating said shaft in an oppositedirection to a point representing a normal position, and a meansengaging said shaft for stopping the rotative movement of the latter insaid opposite direction at the point representing normal position, theprovision of a iloating anchor for said spring means, said floatinganchor comprising, in combination, a disc arranged on said rotatableshaft and having connection with the other end of said spring means, andmeans for frictionally engaging said disc to hold the latter in arelatively stationary position with respect to said shaft, said springmeans being tensioned by the rotation of the shaft in said one directionand adapted to effect rotation of said disc when the tensile strength ofsaid spring means is greater than the frictional engagement of said lastnamed means whereby to permit rotative movement of the shaft a pluralityof revolutions in one direction.

WILLIAM G. PETERS.

